After what has been a difficult start to 2016, Crystal Palace may have finally turned a corner after an FA Cup win against second-placed Tottenham.
After managing just three wins in 10 games so far this year, all of which have come from cup games, Palace will be hoping they are able to carry the momentum gained into this week’s match West Bromwich Albion who are level on points with the Eagles in 14th position.
The win against Spurs was Palace’s second in a row in the cup courtesy of a Martin Kelly strike, his first since November 2011 when he scored for Liverpool against Chelsea. The clean sheet just the Eagles’ second of the year, earmarks some renewed resilience in the defence. Spurs’ chance conversion ratio of shots to those that hit the target where fairly low, with only four of the 19 attempts finding the target.
The welcome return from injury of Yannick Bolasie off the bench against Spurs will give Palace supporters hope. He was one of Palace’s most important players in the first half of the season before he sustained a thigh injury against Stoke in December, which still stands as their last win in the league.
POPULAR ARTICLES
Top 5 most underrated players on AUSFIFA [PS4 Pro Clubs Rivals]
How Arsenal fans reacted to their 2-0 loss against Barcelona
FA Cup – What We Learned – Shrewsbury Town 0 Manchester United 3
Full FA Cup quarter-final draw
Bolasie has missed the last nine games, yet still finds himself in second position in the Eagles’ goalscoring charts with four goals, a critical component of Palace’s counter-attacking thrust. The system employed by Alan Pardew has struggled in the last two months with just one outlet, Wilfried Zaha, and thus have only taken three points out of a possible 27 since 19 December.
The performance of Wayne Hennessey was something of a concern. After some shaky performances against Aston Villa and Manchester City where he was beaten too easily, it would have been easy, and probably justified, to drop him. However, Pardew kept the faith despite dropping Alex McCarthy after some similarly bad performances. Since those games, Hennessey has made some key saves that have a times kept the Eagles within reach of a result.
The concerning issue for Palace of late has been their discipline. In the last few games, there has been a high percentage of goals scored from free kicks and penalties. Against Swansea, it was a Gylfi Sigurdsson free kick that made Palace chase the game before drawing level. In their most previous outing against Watford, captain Mile Jedinak gave away a silly penalty after hauling down Troy Deeney, who was trying to get on the end of a corner. Again, they were forced to come from behind. The sending off of Pape Souare for a two-footed tackle on Valon Behrami with two minutes remaining leaves Palace without their first choice left-back for the next two league games, meaning Palace will be without another pacey outlet.
Palace’s opponents this weekend, West Brom, were also involved in cup action last weekend but did not get the result, falling to Championship side Reading 3-1 away from home. This shows the kind of inconsistent form they have shown so far this season, having beaten Everton away 1-0 the week before.
Palace’s goal now must be to rediscover the form they showed that took them to the brink of the European places before Christmas, having made a start on those efforts in the FA Cup. Otherwise, they risk ending a promising season with little more than a whimper.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
